Diamond in the Rough
by Soralake
Summary: Lily Hasu, a native to Japan has finally returned home. Meeting new friends in Stallion High, she finds herself falling for one of the most desired men in high school; Yu Kanda. Will he return her feelings? And will Lily get the happy ending she deserves?


**Diamond in the Rough**

[Chapter 1]

**A/N: Hey everyone! Welcome to my new story, **_**Diamond in the Rough.**_** I had a strike of inspiration to start this story, and here it is! Well, I've been writing outlines up to chapter 11 for this story, so hopefully everything will work out and I won't lose the spark for this story, because I have a tendency to get writer's block and not continue the story. So, will all these things said, without further ado, enjoy the story! Oh, and the characters in this story for D. Gray-man are just human. They aren't exorcists. Just regular people; Thanks! **

My first day in Japan, or should I say my first day _back _in Japan. You see, about 8 years ago, my parents and I decided to head to the USA for a trip to visit some friends and tour the sights. Before we knew it, we had settled down in Sandusky, Ohio. My parents got a job with electronics and they put me in Winchester Elementary School. Not long after, I made new friends and became quite fluent in English. We had sleepovers, went to parties, played games, and tried out for sports; everything a typical teenager would do. But that was before my parents made a drastic last minute decision and moved all of us back to Tokyo, Japan, my hometown. It turned my world upside down, but I got back in the hang of things pretty quickly, getting reacquainted with my native language. And that was when it all started.

I'm entering Black Stallion High School. I'm now 16 years old and a sophomore. Today is my first official day entering as a new transfer student to Stallion High. _Transfer_, ugh, I really hate that word. I'm not a transfer student. I've already lived here before, just, not for 8 years. It's time to get my schedule. I'm a little nervous. _What kind of classes will I be taking? Will I like my classes? _These were all things running through my head as I headed to the guidance counselors office.

I found the door and quietly pushed open the door to see a slightly plump woman with a kind smile sitting behind the desk. She looked up when she saw me and motioned me over.

"How can I help you, dear?" She asked politely.

"I'm a new student here. My name is Lily Hasu. I'm supposed to be getting my schedule." I fiddled with my shoulder bag nervously, watching as she typed in my name on the computer.

"Ah," She said with a smile, pulling out a half sheet of paper and handing it to me. "Here you are. I'm sure you'll enjoy this school. We have some of the best classes for you to take here, but feel free to ask any teachers or your guidance counselor if you have questions." She scanned the paper over my shoulder. "Hm, it looks like you're first class is on the 2nd floor. It's room 234 on the right. And it's band too, I'm sure you'll really enjoy that!" She gave me another big smile, trying to reassure me.

I quickly smiled back and thanked her as I left the office and made my way to room 234 for band class. My first day. It was going well so far. Although, I hadn't yet met my classmates or my teachers, so I couldn't say, but for some reason I just felt this lightness, a happiness that I was finally back where I was supposed to be. Almost like my life was being put back on track after an accident. But it could just be my imagination.

I knocked on the door outside of the classroom, quickly changing into my class shoes before entering the room and greeting my teacher. Her name was Melody Ichigo. She smiled and directed me over to where another young man was sitting at a piano. There was another one next to it. I sat down on the seat and took in the piano. It was beautiful. The color was a gorgeous pearl white with rounded edges that were smoothly painted over. The keys were also in beautiful condition, as they had the new look to them, each key was matched perfectly. I could tell it was new, but how new, I had no idea. I was also quite stumped on how the teacher seemed to know where to put me. Oh well, it was probably just one of the teacher things. They always seem to know things you don't. I was so busy admiring the piano that I didn't realize a boy about my age was talking to me.

"…and my name is Allen Walker, what's yours?" He gave me a bright, welcoming smile.

I liked him already. "Um… my name is Lily Hasu. Nice to meet you," We shook hands. "Are you a sophomore?"

He nodded. "You are too, by the looks of it."

I smiled and glanced around the room. There weren't too many kids. Maybe 15 or 16 of us tops, although I knew there were more somewhere. They were probably just in other classes throughout the day. I noticed a Chinese girl sitting several seats away from us. She seemed to be trying to communicate with the boy named Allen, but she wasn't having any success. I nudged him. "That girl is trying to get your attention." I motioned in her direction.

He gave her an apologetic look and nodded in thanks to me.

I went back to surveying the room when I noticed another boy, sitting about 10 feet away from me. His hair was an unbelievable bright shade of red that I thought it was dyed when I realized it had to be real. It was like Allen's being white. I shook my head. I guess things were a little weirder here than I remembered. I also noticed that the girl Allen was talking to seemed to have a dark teal shade color in her hair. I guess that was natural too. Huh, things were definitely a little abnormal around here, but I'd get used to it. It was my school now, right?

Soon after Allen was done talking to that girl, we began playing a piece by Bach. A little while later the class was over and we were on our way to our next class. I was about to leave the classroom when Allen stopped me, the girl he was talking to earlier in toe, along with the other red haired boy I'd noticed when I was checking out the students. "Hey," I said casually, glancing down at my schedule.

"What's your next class?" Allen asked curiously.

"Um…Honors English 10."

"Oh, that's our next class too! We can go to class together!" The girl piped up with a smile, taking my hand and leading me ahead of the boys. "My name's Lenalee by the way, but you can call me Lena if you want to."

I smiled. "I'm Lily. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," she exclaimed as we entered our 2nd period class and took our seats. "The teacher is really nice. His name is Mr. Niwa. You should really like him."

The other two boys joined us shortly after.

"Why'd you two run off? I was about to talk to-"

_Bonk._

"Don't hit on her the first day she's here." Lenalee gave the red haired boy a stern look.

I giggled. "I'm Lily, by the way."

The boy gave a lopsided grin. "My name's Lavi, and I don't really have a last name, so it's just Lavi." He took my hand and kissed it gently. "It's a pleasure to meet you, miss."

I giggled again as Lenalee gave him another whack on the head.

Allen seemed totally oblivious to things until he was dragged into the conversation.

"Allen wouldn't do something like that to Lily, right, Allen?" Lenalee glared over at Allen with her hands crossed.

He looked over, unsure of whether he should answer. "Well, I guess so."

She seemed content with that and then turned back to me. "I'm sorry. Lavi can get kind of star struck on a girl when he first meets her. It's just his way of saying hello."

I laughed. "No, it's all right. I don't mind."

Lavi grinned. "See, Lena, she doesn't mind a little attention every now and then. You should try letting guys pamper you every once and a while."

She sighed. "I would, but you know my brother would never let a guy near me from 100 miles away. He's like this psycho protector vowing to never let one man touch me."

"That can be a good thing though," I interjected. "Sometimes it's nice to have someone watch over you."

Everyone stared at me in shock.

"What, it is!" I blushed in embarrassment.

Lenalee shook her head. "No, that was just really sweet! Do you have an older brother?"

"Nope, I'm an only child. I wish I had an older brother though. It'd be nice sometimes." I looked away, staring out the window in thought when the teacher entered the classroom and talking time was over.

For the rest of the day, Allen, Lenalee, and Lavi helped me make my way around the school. I quickly realized that I'd be able to see them a lot, as I had 5 out of 6 classes with them. The day was productive, earning gold in becoming part of a new school. It was hard to believe that the day was already over when the last bell rang for the end of 6th hour. I made my way down to the 3rd floor and grabbed my things from my locker before walking down to the first floor and pulling out my cell phone. I phoned my dad and told him I was on my way home when I spotted Allen and Lavi jogging towards me. I said goodbye to him and hung up the phone. "Hey, guys," I greeted.

They smiled.

"So how was your first day? Do you think you can last here for the next few years?" Lavi asked as we walked out of the school and to the student parking lot.

I nodded. "It's really nice here, and with you three here, I don't think I'll have too many problems finding friends."

They gave me a friendly hug.

"Aw, thanks, I feel touched. But don't get too comfortable with just us three. There's another boy that goes here that we hang out with and I'm not sure how he'll take you, but don't worry about him. He's kind of moody." Lavi looked over at Allen for support.

"That little…" Allen didn't look to happy at the mention of this boy.

"What's his name?" I asked curiously, swinging my stuff into my passenger seat.

"Yu Kanda, but we call him by Kanda since he says he doesn't like his first name." Allen still looked a little apprehensive about it, glancing nervously over at Lavi, like he'd already said too much.

"Don't worry, he isn't a bad boy or anything, he just likes to keep to himself a lot, so if he doesn't talk to you right away, don't feel like it was something you did. He's always like that." Lavi reassured me.

I nodded, getting into the car. "Well, thanks for showing me around school today, guys. It was a big help. I guess I'll see you tomorrow, and maybe this mysterious Kanda that you're talking about." I smiled as I shut the door and started up the car.

The boys backed up as I drove off, waving like their lives depended on it once I got to the end of the block.

I laughed silently feeling more refreshed than I'd felt in a while.

* * *

The second day at Black Stallion High School. I hoped it would be just as good as yesterday. When I'd gotten home, I was in such a good mood that even my parents didn't know what to say. Usually I would come home in a depressed mood because one of my friends had just been dumped again or something to that nature. This time was different. My friends were all different. None were just the average Joe or the kind that were too full of themselves to notice the others around them. At least, I hoped Kanda wouldn't be that way.

I walked up to first hour and was greeted by two happy looking boys. "What's up?" I put my bag on the seat next to the piano, awaiting the explanation for their good mood.

"Well, we just heard from the guidance counselor that we're having a prom this year!" Both boys exclaimed in unison.

I smiled at how excited they seemed. "You guys haven't had a prom here before?"

"Nope," a voice answered behind me.

I turned and saw Lenalee walking over to us. "Why not?"

"Our school hasn't had enough money or staff to do it, but this year we raised enough money that the junior and seniors can have a prom, although, this year sophomores are included." She gave me a quick hug in her excitement.

"So this means we're included to go?" I was starting to see why this would be exciting. We would finally be included in something, other than letting all the juniors and seniors have the luxuries that we didn't.

All three nodded, big smiles on their faces.

"What are you guys going on about now?" Another voice asked behind us, going to put his things on a nearby chair next to the piano and slowly walking over to us.

I turned to see a boy that looked a couple years older than us. The first thing that I noticed was his hair. It was the darkest and most beautiful shade of blue that I had such an instinct to reach out and touch it I had to physically restrain my hand from moving to his hair. The other thing I noticed was that he was extremely handsome. He may have had a stern look on his face, but he couldn't hide the fact that underneath the gruffness, there was a hidden smile just waiting to peek out.

"Ah, Kanda, you decided to grace us with your presence! It's such a pleasure!" Lavi gave a mischievous grin.

"Che." He looked away for a minute before glaring at me. "Who are you?"

I cowered underneath his gaze. He was handsome, but that didn't make him any less scary, and then again, for some reason I felt that if I was in peril, he would rescue me. _What the heck?! Where did that thought come from?? _"Uh…"

"This, is the beautiful Lily Hasu, one of the newest students here. She's a sophomore, and in all but one of our classes." Lavi put a hand around my shoulder, trying to comfort me if I needed it. "Although," when Kanda didn't respond he continued. "I'm not sure about you, since you're a senior. Heh, oh well."

"Shut up, stupid rabbit. I'm not dumb. You said her name's Hasu?" He seemed slightly put off by my last name.

"That's what I said, was it not?" Lavi seemed to enjoy this playful banter.

_I wonder if he does this a lot?_

Kanda seemed to be in deep thought about this for a moment before he tsked and moved to go sit in his seat.

"Ha-ha, I think we have the great Yu Kanda stumped ladies and gentlemen!"

Everyone in the room looked over at Kanda in curiosity.

_Yep, and maybe a little __**too**__ much._

"Shut up!" He continued to scoff in his seat, his back turned to us refusing to let Lavi humiliate him anymore.

The class started and before we knew it the end of the day was over. It was also Friday, the start of the weekend.

You were just about to get into the car when Allen, Lavi, Lenalee, and a reluctant Kanda came running over to you. "Hey, what's up guys?"

"Hey, do you want to have a picnic with us? We're going right now! I promise we'll have you back by midnight!" Lavi looked ecstatic about this for some odd reason.

I shrugged. "I suppose, just let me call my parents."

Lavi high fived the air as I called my father.

When I hung up the phone and informed them I was allowed to go, everyone except for Kanda shouted excitedly and insisted that we go in my car since it was so cool. I shrugged and we piled into my blue Ferrari. "Okay, you're going to have to direct me where you want to go, because I have no idea where I'm going."

"All right, just go up this street and turn right. It's a huge park overlooking a large lake. You can't miss it." Allen instructed as we pulled out of the student parking lot and onto the road.

I nodded as we drove down the road and parked in front of a large park across the road.

Everyone got out and unloaded the picnic basket with a beautiful yellow butterfly blanket. We walked over to one of the trees and made our own territory with all of our things.

I sat down on the blanket, allowing the others to get everything out and quickly serve the food before we began digging in. I noticed right away that Allen was a big eater. He had 3 plates full of chicken, fruit, and vegetables. "Geez, do you eat enough at lunch, Allen?"

He grinned at me and shrugged. "I guess I'm just a big eater."

I shook my head and smiled.

Soon everyone was full and we collapsed onto the blanket in silence, letting our stomachs settle.

Lavi glanced up and looked around. "Hey…where'd Kanda go?"

Allen looked up and surveyed the area. "Who knows; who cares? He's not calling me short, so I'm good."

"Allen!" Lenalee scolded.

"He was with us when we ate." I commented, not really remembering when Kanda could've left.

Lavi shrugged. "Would you mind going to look for him? I just want to make sure he's all right."

Allen sat up quickly. "What?! You _never _care what happens to him! Why do you care now?" He looked baffled.

"I don't know, I just don't think it's uh…a good idea to get too far away from the group, you know?" Lavi scratched his head with a sheepish grin.

Allen didn't buy it one bit. "What're you thinking? You don't usually make such unconvincing remarks."

Before he could answer I jumped up and said, "I'll go look for him. I'm sure he couldn't have gotten far."

"Thanks, Lily!" He gave me two thumbs up as I walked away.

I smiled inwardly and began walking around the lake in search of a handsome 18 year old. It didn't take me long to find a lone teen gracefully lying on the grass with his hands behind his head, staring at the sky. I sat down next to him, putting my hands behind me to watch the clouds pass over us.

"Did they send you looking for me?" A deep voice asked quietly, breaking the silence between us.

I grinned sheepishly. "I guess so."

"Che. Those losers are always looking for an excuse to bug me."

I looked over at him, but he was still concentrating on the clouds. His hair was so beautiful. It seemed to sparkle in the sunlight. Those long straight locks of dark blue were beckoning to me. I wanted so badly to touch it, but I knew he would never let me get close enough to do that. I did the only other thing I could think of. "Do you mind if I brush your hair?"

He looked taken aback before quickly regaining his composure and going back to staring at the sky. "Why?"

I shrugged. "It's just so _beautiful._"

Kanda couldn't resist looking over at me again. He seemed shocked at my choice in words.

While he was slightly confused, I took my chances and made a pleading face. "Please?"

He huffed and closed his eyes, grudgingly giving in and sitting up for me to brush his hair.

I tried not to squeal with delight as I pulled out a handy little brush that I just happened to have with me and began running it through the tips of his hair before brushing the full length.

The atmosphere was so peaceful. It felt like life was just beginning to wake up. The flowers were just beginning to bloom for the coming change in seasons and you could even start to hear the birds begin to chirp again. Everything seemed perfect.

A comfortable silence fell between the two of us, capturing us in its beauty. I was so happy. This was the one thing that I'd dreamed of doing ever since I laid eyes on Kanda, even though I'd just met him today. I guess not everything was true about him. No matter what Allen or Lavi said, I wouldn't believe it. Kanda was a kind and gentle person at heart. He just needed a little more time to get comfortable with his surroundings before he could open up to people. He wasn't antisocial, just quietly absorbing the information given to him and using it wisely. This much I could tell.

_I wish things could stay like this forever._

One stroke.

_Things are so comfortable between us right now._

Two strokes.

_It's like we've known each other for years, doesn't it?_

Three strokes.

_They'll be coming to look for us soon._

"Kanda, Lily! Where are you guys?"

_Here they come…our time alone is coming to an end._

"There you are, we've been looking all over for you two!" Lavi exclaimed with another one of his mysterious grins as he came to sit next to us. "Oi, guys, they're over here!" He called to the others who were bringing all of our stuff with them.

"Stupid rabbit, do you have to be so loud?" Kanda had his eyes closed. It looked like he was meditating.

"Why, I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Lavi winked at me.

I rolled my eyes.

"Stupid rabbit…" he muttered under his breath.

I continued brushing, ignoring everyone else.

"Yu, why are you letting Lily brush your hair? She can do it and I can't?" Lavi whined, obviously trying to push Kanda's buttons.

Allen and Lenalee plop down beside you, also noticing this strange scene.

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Allen demanded.

Lenalee just glanced at me in curiosity.

I stopped, thinking maybe this wasn't a good idea after all.

Kanda opened his eyes and turned to look at everyone but me. "If you don't shut up and leave us alone, I swear I'll kick your butts into yesterday. And you," he looked at me sharply. "Keep brushing."

I nodded and obediently began brushing his hair again.

Everyone watched in shocked silence at his words to them and me.

This was the beginning of an incredibly long journey…for all of us.

_Am I ready for this?_


End file.
